Magic moments – incredible photos on mysticism
Today, a magical photographer and a brave journalist Iason Athanasiadis, wrote to me after reading some of my comments in NYT. This is such a small world after all. Iason has also lived in Pakistan and some of his beautiful pictures can be found here (I am posting an image from Pakistan below from his collection). What a treasure it is. I am so grateful that Iason got in touch..
Here is another one from Iran - absolutely stunning...
Mystical Form of Islam Suits Sufis in Pakistan
A New York Times' piece where I was quoted.
I have returned, like the new year (Rumi)
Thou art wine and I am water
Before such spirit-bestowing Beauty, how should
I not die? How should I not go mad and seize hold of Thy
chainlike tresses?
When I drink Thy wine, how should I not be
obliterated? Thou art wine and I am water, Thou art honey
and I am milk.
Ghalib: Heart is a Mirror and Mirror a Heart
Ghalib: Heart is a Mirror and Mirror a Heart
az mihr taa bah-;zarrah dil-o-dil hai aa))inah
:tuu:tii ko shash jihat se muqaabil hai aa))inah
1) from sun to sand-grain-- heart; and heart is a mirror
2) {from / by means of} the six directions, a mirror confronts the parrot
Translation and commentary on Desertful of Roses. Parallel commentary on The South Asian Idea.
“I have never become less from dying”
Rumi departed earthly life on 5 Jumadi II, 672 A.H (according to the Islamic lunar calendar; Dec 17, 1273 A.D., according to the Christian calendar). His death is referred to by Persians as "vesal", meaning "union (with the Beloved)", while in the Mevlevi Sufi tradition, the expression "shab-i aroos" (variously spelled "sheb-i arus", etc., in transliteration) is used, a phrase meaning "the wedding night" -- the night of Rumi's marriage to the Beloved. (The Sufi tradition of referring to the death of a Sufi saint as "urs" -- a wedding -- predates Rumi, and is still used in Sufi circles.)
Over the next few days, the Sunlight mailing list will offer poems appropriate to the memory of Molana's passing from this life, and touching on his teachings on the significance of death.
Thou art the sky and the deep sea (Rumi)
When you fall asleep,
you go from the presence of yourself
into your own true presence.
You hear something
and surmise that someone else in your dream
has secretly informed you.
You are not a single "you."
No, you are the sky and the deep sea.
Your mighty "Thou," which is nine hundredfold,
is the ocean, the drowning place
of a hundred "thou's" within you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~
Kabir, Bulleh and Lalon – Petals of a mystic lotus
Also published in the Weekly Friday Times July 24 issue
The subcontinent during the 15th century witnessed the coming of age of a process that started brewing with the arrival of Central Asian Sufis, those eternal travellers who arrived in India with a message of Islam and mystic love. When Sufi thought, an off-shore spiritual undercurrent to the rise of Islam, met its local hosts, the results were terrific. There was no shortage of fundamentalists and communalists in that cultural landscape; and the gulf between alien rulers and the native subjects was a stark reality as well.
Nevertheless, a synthesis of sorts was navigated by hundreds of yogis, Sufis and poets of South Asia. Very much a people’s movement from below, the Bhakti movement articulated a powerful vision of tolerance, amity and co-existence that remains relevant today. This is many centuries before the suave, Western-educated intelligentsia coined the “people-to-people” contact campaigns. Yes, much has been lost in the tumultuous 20th century and perhaps these histories are irreversible. But a vast and complex common ground was nurtured by mystic poets of northern India, now comprising India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Veil – Attar
by Farid al-Din 'Attar (1142-1220)
1
We are the Magians of old,
Islam is not the faith we hold;
In irreligion is our fame,
And we have made our creed a shame.
2
Now to the tavern we repair
To gamble all our substance there,
Now in the monastery cell
We worship with the infidel.
3
When Satan chances us to see
He doffs his cap respectfully,
For we have lessons to impart
To Satan in the tempter's art.
4
We were not in such nature made
Of any man to be afraid;
Head and foot in naked pride
Like sultans o'er the earth we ride.
5
But we, alas, aweary are
And the road is very far;
We know not by what way to come
Unto the place that is our home.
6
And therefore we are in despair
How to order our affair
Because, wherever we have sought,
Our minds were utterly distraught.
7
When shall it come to pass, ah when,
That suddenly, beyond our ken,
We shall succeed to rend this veil
That hath our whole affair conceal?
8
What veil so ever after this
Apparent to our vision is,
With the flame of knowledge true
We shall consume it through and through.
9
Where at the first in that far place
We come to the world of space,
Our soul by travail in the end
To that perfection shall ascend.
10
And so shall 'Attar Shattered be
And, rapt in sudden ecstasy,
Soar to godly vision, even
Beyond the veils of earth and heaven.
Translated by A. J. Arberry
mystical expressionism and Jamali’s art
Jamali is a contemporary artist of Pakistani origin. It was a delight to have discovered his artistic vision.
Mystical expressionism is a new mode of art-making that combines the scientific insights of our new age with humankind's ancient wisdom. Obeying the dream guide who set him on the path to art, Jamali himself has named his life's work Art & Peace.
The source of Jamali's art and his life lies in the primordial spiritual traditions of the East. In his birthplace Peshawar, the Asian crossroads city, Jamali drank in Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi ideas of the sacredness of being. He spent years of his youth with a mysterious desert people who still respect the shaman's powers. But he also studied modern physics and engineering. Jamali is the first to incorporate the paradoxes of quantum mechanics into contemporary art.
Read more here
Sufi Qawwali – Mehr Ali and Sher Ali
Sadi has written a wonderful post here - I am cross posting it here.
Couple of nights back (24, April, 08) came an unanticipated opportunity to watch and listen to two of great contemporary pakistani sufi Qawwali singers at famous UCLA Royce Hall. The concert was titled, Qawwali Music of Pakistan: Sufi devotional music.Among the audience was both americans and sub-continental audience. What was striking, is Qawwali's ability to transcend language with its sheer power and captivating devotion. The nature of improvisation makes each Qawwali, even if its sung by the same group of singers, very unique and every new listening is a new experience.Sometime the depth of the verses, fused with the presentation takes audience to an otherly high which was felt last night too. At times there were goosebumps and surges with the strong emotion that is created in Qawwali performance. The Sufi Qawwalis are considered as zikr or Divine remembrance if listened with spiritual understanding and depth.:: What is Sufi Qawwali? | Qawwali is derived from the Arabic word qaul, literally meaning "saying" but has taken on the meaning of "belief"or "credo" in South Asian languages. Qawwali is spiritual in essence; it is the devotional music of the Sufis to attain trance and mystical experience - originating in the 10th century and blossoming into its present form from the 13th century onwards.
Abida Parveen’s magic – Sufi music at its best
Someone once said Abida Parveen is not a singer or an artist... she is an experience..... her voice and expression takes you to a different universe... when she collaborated with India's ace filmmaker, poet, artist, revivalist, musician and activist Muzaffar Ali the result had to be something divine ... something out of ordinary, something that transcends all boundaries... it was purest of the pure Raqs-e-Bismil (dance of the injured)... totally unforgettable and soulful ... In Abida's own words Raqs-e-Bismil has the glow of Almighty in it...one can become wali by listening to it.... sufi poetry has a magic that is beyond any explanation, any comprehension ... it fascinates me as each time it takes me into a new realm of discovery.
I am sharing my favorite ghazal from the album with translation... although each piece is a priceless gem yet this ghazal has the power to take you beyond yourself. Abida is at her best here.
The English translation is done by Muzaffar Ali himself.
Hairat mara ze har do jahan be niaz kard
Een khab kaare daulat e bedaar meekunad
(Rumi)
Bewilderment has absolved me of both the worlds
This is the consequence of awakening from my dreams
Khuli jab ki chashm e dil e hazeen,
to vo nam raha na teri rahi
Hui hairat aisi kuch aankh par ki asar ki be asari rahi
Pari goshe jaan mein ajab nida ki jigar na bejigari rahi
Khabare tahhayyur e ishq sun na junoon raha na pari rahi
Na to tu raha na to main raha jo rahi bekhabari rahi...
(Khamsa by Nazeer Akbarabadi for Siraj Aurangabadi)
The eyes of an anguished heart open...
No longer moist.. Bereft of tears
The perplexed vision
Remained unmoved.. Devoid of response
The soul heard.. An unusual sound
That took the pluck of life away
As wondrous love revealed itself
The fairy vanished..The ecstasy lost
Nor you remained.. Nor I was found
mere oblivion was all there was...
Mujhe bekhudi ye tune bhali chashni chakhayi
Kisi aarzoo ki dil mein nahi ab rahi samayi
O surrender in love,
You have given me a taste that pales all worldliness
No desire remains
In the heart filled with submission
Na hazar hai na khatar hai, na raja hai ne dua hai
Na khayaal e bandagi hai na tamana e khudai
Neither distance nor fear...
neither hope nor prayer
neither thoughts of subjugation
nor desire of godliness
Na muqqam e guftagu hai na mahhall e justaju hai
Na wahan havaas pahunche na khirad ko hai rasai
No place for exchange of words...
no occasion for further quest
Where neither consciousness reaches
nor thoughts transcend its realm
Na makin hai ne makan hai na zameen hai ne zaman hai
Dil e be nava ne mere jahan chhavni hai chayi
No one resides..Neither habitation exist...
Is where this wandering heart has come to camp
Na visaal hai na hijraan na suroor hai na gham hai
Jise kahiye khwab e ghaflat so woh neend mujh ko aayi
Where there is no union... No separation
no sorrow... no joy
What is said to be an endless oblivion
I enter such a slumber
(Hazrat Shah Niaz)
Another video below
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai
If you are seeking Allah
If you are seeking Allah,
Then keep clear of religious formalities.
Those who have seen Allah
Are away from all religions!
Those who do not see Allah here,
How will they see Him beyond?
Let us go the land of Kak
Where love flows in abundance,
There are no entrances, no exits,
Every one can see the Lord!
There is no light nor day
Every one can see the Lord!
Those who love the Lord
The world cannot hold them.
Palaces do not attract them,
Nor women nor servants
Nothing binds them:
The renouncers leave everything behind.
A message came from the Lord:
A full moon shone
Darkness disappeared
A new message came from the Lord:
It does not matter what caste you are
Whoever come, are accepted.
Where shall I take my camel,
All is Light...
Inside there is Kak, mountain and valley,
The Lord and the Lord: there is nothing but the Lord.
(translated from Sindhi by D. H. Butani)
Legacy of Shah Latif is a recent book on Bhitai's life and works. In a recent book review, Anwar Abro writes:
"Two and a half centuries after his death, the celebrated Sindhi philosopher-poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752 AD) continues to inspire and influence the lives and activities of the peace-loving mystic souls of Sindh. Intellectual activities, social, political or ideological discourses are considered meaningless without the recitation of his poetry. Shah Latif has become an essential part of the day-to-day life of the people of Sindh so much so that everyone wants to find out more about his life, his principles and beliefs and discover the true interpretation of his mesmerisingly meaningful poetry..."
read more here
Picture above right is courtesy Himal Magazine
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- The tribute to Asim Butt
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Pak Tea House
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